WASHINGTON — Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt told lawmakers here Wednesday that he's suing the United States over the health care law because the Internal Revenue Service ignored Congress' intent to let states opt out of key provisions.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, left, greets Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, on Wednesday in Washington. The attorney general testified before a U.S. House hearing about Pruitt's lawsuit against the health care law.
PHOTO BY CHRIS CASTEEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Chris Casteel - The Oklahoman

At a House subcommittee hearing criticized by Democrats for politicizing an issue that's now before a federal judge, Pruitt said the IRS had effectively forced Oklahoma to comply with the requirements of state health insurance exchanges even though Oklahoma had decided not to create one.

“The regulation appears geared more toward enacting the agency's own policies than faithfully following the implementation of the law passed by Congress,” Pruitt said at the hearing, led by Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City.

Pruitt's suit, in federal court in Muskogee, contends that the health care law's system of subsidies and tax penalties only apply to state-created exchanges, which are online marketplaces where people can shop for health insurance.

Oklahoma and 33 other states have opted not to create their own exchanges, meaning that the federal government has to establish them. Pruitt's lawsuit, based on the work of a conservative law professor and libertarian researcher, contends that the law's plain text provides financial incentives and penalties only through state exchanges, not ones set up by the federal government.

The U.S. Justice Department is fighting Pruitt's lawsuit in court; the federal judge must first decide whether Oklahoma has the legal standing to sue over the rule.

Official defends IRS rule

At the outset of the hearing, Lankford said, “The leaders in my state decided to protect our employers and workers from the employer mandate tax penalties and protect future generations of Americans who will face increasing debt by not creating a state exchange.

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by Chris Casteel

Washington Bureau

Chris Casteel began working for The Oklahoman's Norman bureau in 1982 while a student at the University of Oklahoma. After covering the police beat, federal courts and the state Legislature in Oklahoma City, he moved to Washington in 1990, where...